Defenceman Dave Babych was born in Edmonton, Alberta on May 23, 1961 and developed into a steady blueliner during his 19-year NHL career. Babych spent three seasons with the Portland Winter Hawks, the last of which he was an all-star before making the leap to the NHL.

Babych went straight to the NHL without a game in the minors, suiting up for 69 contests with the Winnipeg Jets in 1980-81. By 1983, he was an NHL All-Star, and he went on to score 74 points that year, a career high. During his sixth season with the Jets, two of which he was named to the All-Star Team, Babych was traded to the Hartford Whalers for Ray Neufeld.

With the Whalers, Babych didn't reach the offensive highs he hit as a Jet but maintained his solid two way game, providing solid defence and chipping in points on a consistent basis. After Babych's sixth campaign with Hartford, he was on the move again.

When the San Jose Sharks joined the NHL in 1991, they took many players from the Minnesota North Stars as per an earlier agreement and, as a result, the North Stars were permitted to draft players from the rest of the NHL clubs to fill some holes. Babych was claimed by the North Stars and then promptly traded to the Vancouver Canucks during this process.

With the Canucks, Babych joined a blue line corps in need of a steady veteran presence, and he was able to provide. During his third season with the Canucks, they advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup finals and extended the eventual champion New York Rangers to a seventh game. Babych provided three goals and eight points that playoffs.

Babych spent parts of four more years with the Canucks before he was traded again, this time to the Philadelphia Flyers, who felt they were poised for a serious playoff run and wanted a veteran presence on their blueline. The Flyers, however, had a disappointing post-season, and Babych didn't get his second chance at a Cup.

The 1998-99 schedule was Babych's final season in the NHL. He spent most of the year with the Flyers, but was traded, again at the deadline, to the Los Angeles Kings for Steve Duchesne. After one season with the Kings, Babych went on to play three games with Ambri-Piotta of Switzerland's National League during their playoff run before calling it a career at the end of the season.

Dave Babych played 1,195 in the NHL and finished with 723 points.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

Season

Club

League

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

+/-

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

1977-78

Fort Saskatchewan Traders

AJHL

56

31

69

100

37

1977-78

Portland Winter Hawks

WCJHL

6

1

3

4

4

1978-79

Portland Winter Hawks

WHL

67

20

59

79

63

25

7

22

29

22

1979-80

Portland Winter Hawks

WHL

50

22

60

82

71

8

1

10

11

2

1980-81

Winnipeg Jets

NHL

69

6

38

44

90

-61

1980-81

Canada

WEC-A

7

0

2

2

8

1981-82

Winnipeg Jets

NHL

79

19

49

68

92

-11

4

1

2

3

29

1982-83

Winnipeg Jets

NHL

79

13

61

74

56

-10

3

0

0

0

0

1983-84

Winnipeg Jets

NHL

66

18

39

57

62

-31

3

1

1

2

0

1984-85

Winnipeg Jets

NHL

78

13

49

62

78

-16

8

2

7

9

6

1985-86

Winnipeg Jets

NHL

19

4

12

16

14

-1

1985-86

Hartford Whalers

NHL

62

10

43

53

36

+2

8

1

3

4

14

1986-87

Hartford Whalers

NHL

66

8

33

41

44

-18

6

1

1

2

14

1987-88

Hartford Whalers

NHL

71

14

36

50

54

-25

6

3

2

5

2

1988-89

Hartford Whalers

NHL

70

6

41

47

54

-5

4

1

5

6

2

1988-89

Canada

WEC-A

10

2

0

2

4

1989-90

Hartford Whalers

NHL

72

6

37

43

62

-16

7

1

2

3

0

1990-91

Hartford Whalers

NHL

8

0

6

6

4

-4

1991-92

Vancouver Canucks

NHL

75

5

24

29

63

-2

13

2

6

8

10

1992-93

Vancouver Canucks

NHL

43

3

16

19

44

+6

12

2

5

7

6

1993-94

Vancouver Canucks

NHL

73

4

28

32

52

0

24

3

5

8

12

1994-95

Vancouver Canucks

NHL

40

3

11

14

18

-13

11

2

2

4

14

1995-96

Vancouver Canucks

NHL

53

3

21

24

38

-5

1996-97

Vancouver Canucks

NHL

78

5

22

27

38

-2

1997-98

Vancouver Canucks

NHL

47

0

9

9

37

-11

1997-98

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

6

0

0

0

12

+2

5

1

0

1

4

1998-99

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

33

2

4

6

20

0

1998-99

Los Angeles Kings

NHL

8

0

2

2

2

-2

1999-00

HC Ambri-Piotta

Swiss

1

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

0

NHL Totals

1195

142

581

723

970

114

21

41

62

113

Brother of Wayne WHL First All-Star Team (1980)
Played in NHL All-Star Game (1983, 1984)

Traded to Hartford by Winnipeg for Ray Neufeld, November 21, 1985. Missed majority of 1990-91 due to wrist surgery, October 29, 1990. Claimed by Minnesota from Hartford in Expansion Draft, May 30, 1991. Traded to Vancouver by Minnesota for Tom Kurvers, June 22, 1991. Traded to Philadelphia by Vancouver with Philadelphia's 5th round pick (previously acquired, Philadelphia selected Garrett Prosofsky) in 1998 NHL Draft for Philadelphia's 3rd round pick (Justin Morrison) in 1998 NHL Draft, March 24, 1998. Traded to Los Angeles by Philadelphia with Philadelphia's 5th round pick (Nathan Marsters) in 2000 NHL Draft for Steve Duchesne, March 23, 1999. Signed as a free agent by Ambri-Piotta (Switz), January 31, 2000.